The invention is based on a steering wheel the type conventionally known in the art.
From German Patent Disclosure DE 33 11 524 A1, fiber-optical sensors are known that are especially suitable for force and pressure measurements or for monitoring and safety purposes. In an example of an application in automotive engineering, described in this reference, such fiber-optical sensors are mounted in the window frame or in the face end of an electrically actuatable window pane. In this application, the sensors cause the window raising motor to be shut off as soon as the risk of something's being caught in the window, as the window pane moves upward, is detected. This risk is detected by an electronic control unit in that the pressure, exerted in this state, on the optical fiber causes a change in a light signal introduced into it and received by a pickup. This change is evaluated by the control unit and converted into a signal for shutting off the window raising motor.